Vanessa Obioha
As part of its build-up activities to its annual award ceremony, the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA held its stakeholders meeting at the Central Africa country, Cameroon. The goal of the meeting was to reiterate the goal of the African Union Commission, AU, and AFRIMA 2019, to actualise its vision for an integrated, prosperous and unified Africa through the continental awards platform.
At the Las Vegas VIP, Sable, Bonamoussadi, Douala where the event was held and attended by media personalities, record label owners, Cameroon music stars and past AFRIMA winners and nominees, the country’s music and entertainment industry drummed its support for the continental award.
“I want to see beyond winning awards to the opportunities for investment and growth in our local music industry in Cameroon. That is why I would support AFRIMA hosting one of its build-up events or even the main awards in Cameroon. This would be advantageous for us and we should offer any assistance we can to make this happen here in Cameroon,” said Cameroonian music star and AFRIMA 2016 Best Male Artiste in Central Africa winner, Wax Dey.
He also stated that being an artiste and a business executive, that a strategic collaboration between the Cameroon culture industry and AFRIMA and the AU would further aid the development of music and arts in the country.
Representing the International Committee of AFRIMA at the conference were the AFRIMA Regional Director, Central Africa, Ernest Ewane; AFRIMA Associate Producer, Adenrele Niyi and the AFRIMA Head, Media, Sola Dada.
Delivering the opening address, Niyi said the decision to hold the Stakeholders’ Conference in Cameroon was as a result of the growing impact of Cameroonian music and culture across Africa. “Cameroon has shown that it is a powerhouse of music in Central Africa especially with Cameroonian artistes featuring prominently on the annual AFRIMA nominees list. An appreciable number of Cameroonians have won AFRIMA trophies in past editions including the legendary Manu Dibango who has been honoured by the AU and AFRIMA for his influence on Africa music.
However, the African Union and AFRIMA are also interested in examining ways we can use the 6th AFRIMA programme of events to engender greater unity and peace in all regions of Cameroon working with all relevant stakeholders in the country”.
Prior to the conference in Douala, on Thursday, June 27, AFRIMA officials had hosted media and music industry stakeholders in Yaounde, the Cameroon capital to a meet and greet to give insights into the 6th AFRIMA programme of activities.
The team revealed details of the 6th AFRIMA ‘Call for Entry/Entry Submission’ process which opened on May 15 to end on August 2, where African music professionals from across the continent submit their musical works, songs and recordings via the official AFRIMA website for a possible shot at nomination in one or more of the 36 categories of AFRIMA. Information was also shared about the programmes for the annual continental awards to effectively engage music talents and content creators from Cameroon who are key stakeholders and beneficiaries of the awarding process.
Among key attendees were Cameroonian artistes Wax Dey, Mr. Leo, Ewube, Mic Monster, Sango Edi, Wams, Divine Verjika, Awu and media personalities such as Che Che Elvis, Miss Gina Promotions, Fon Felix, Emmanuel Asafor and many other stakeholders in Cameroon’s culture and the music industry.
